AOL Employees Have To Apply To Be Laid Off*

Update: We're just going by the email, but a reader responds: "This is not accurate. They cannot say no. There is no veto. Volunteers will not be denied. Managers most certainly do not have right of refusal for their employees who volunteer. This is per Dave Harmon's Dulles town hall today. "

Earlier: Here's a weird detail about AOL's layoffs: Employees have to apply to be fired -- and its not guaranteed their bosses will say yes.

Yesterday, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong told workers the company needs 2,500 employees to quit the company before it spins off in December. He said that if 2,500 don't step forward, AOL will reach the number through involuntary layoffs in Q1 2010.

Employees that quit now will get a much better severance than those who get fired later.

Here's a chart AOL sent employees to demonstrate how much of a better deal:

But just because an AOL employee likes the offer, doesn't mean they'll get it in the end.

AOL's email to employees yesterday read: "Employees will receive an email from the Company between December 16, 2009 and January 1, 2010, notifying them of their acceptance into the program."

So yeah, you have to tell your boss you don't want to work for him or her anymore, but then you might get stuck working for them anyway.

Of course this makes sense on some level. After all, AOL doesn't want to lose more than (or the wrong) 2,500 people.

But as one reader who noticed the detail wrote: "How awkward is that???"